The Dutchman has made 11 appearances this season, but only one of them has come during Allardyce’s time in charge at the Stadium of Light.

That was the 3-0 win over Newcastle nearly a month ago.

Allardyce says Lens will be given an opportunity “down the line” and that he will have to be ready to make the most of it.

“I think Jeremain overall – like they all have to – has to lift his level up in terms of work-rate,” he said.

“There is no doubt at this level of football the size of the work-rate needed.

“With each position, I have the levels of an elite performer and an average performer of a Premier League player.

“It’s easy for me to monitor.

“It’s not Jeremain, but some of our players have been told that they haven’t reached the average and I expect them to reach that average very quickly. In finding the right team, Jeremain has had the knock-back.

“But he’ll have an opportunity somewhere down the line that he’s going to have to grab.

“I’m still not satisfied with the team and results, so somewhere he’ll get picked and he’ll have to be ready to take it. Hopefully then he stays in. But I’m leaving players out and putting others in to try to find a solution. I don’t want to do that really, but unfortunately there’s no option at this moment in time.

“I’m getting a bit closer to finding that strongest XI, but three weeks have been internationals and when I first got here there were two suspended and three injuries.

“Then we got three injuries in the Newcastle game, so they weren’t fit.”

Lens, 27, was signed from Dynamo Kiev by Dick Advocaat in July for £8million.

He has shown glimpses of the talent that has brought him 30 caps and eight goals for Holland, but Allardyce is looking for consistent performers in the battle for Premier League survival.